


Early Spring

by Chrysanthos



Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Bathing/Washing, Long Hair, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 04:23:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18652834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrysanthos/pseuds/Chrysanthos
Summary: Moomintroll goes looking for Snufkin on the first day of spring.





	Early Spring

Moomintroll woke up groggily, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Hm..." He groaned, "What day is it...?" He stood up and stretched the kinks out of his back before walking over to the calendar on the wall.

 

"Hm?" Moomintroll perked up almost instantly. "It's the twentieth! It's time, it's finally time!" Moomintroll did a small little jig before throwing his rope ladder out his window. Climbing down the side of his house, he began to wonder aloud. "Perhaps Snufkin's back already? I haven't heard his harmonica yet, nor have I smelled his pipe smoke, but those cannot be the only ways I can tell! I'll just have to check our usual spots!"

 

With that, Moomintroll rushed down to the riverbank, where he often met Snufkin at the end of winter.

 

He began to hear rushing water, and he unconsciously picked up his pace, the anticipation of seeing Snufkin again after so long getting the best of him. He ran in the direction of the water's sound, only to find himself at the most rapid part of the river.

 

"Snufkin's never up here, the fishing isn't good up here!" Moomintroll said aloud to himself. "I'll have to go further downstream!" And so he did.

 

Soon, Moomintroll saw something hanging off a tree branch. Rushing over, he recognized it instantly - it was Snufkin's hat! Moomintroll quickly unhooked it from the branch, and looked inside it, as if thinking Snufkin was curled within like a squirrel. Moomintroll began to scan the treetops for Snufkin - after all, Moomintroll reasoned, Snufkin did have a rather fond taste for napping in trees.

 

However, a familiar humming broke Moomintroll out of his search. He recognized the voice - it could only have been Snufkin.

 

Moomintroll, exclaiming "Snufkin!" rushed to the source of the humming, which turned out to be a gentle waterfall much further upstream of their usual bridge meeting place.

 

Moomintroll looked around confusedly, as the humming had stopped, but then he heard a splash coming from the water. "Hm? What's that?" Moomintroll asked himself, and he walked over to a large rock.

 

Suddenly, a figure breeched the water, flipping his long, shaggy, auburn hair in a perfect arc. Moomintroll fell silent as he stared in awe.

 

It was Snufkin. The water's droplets danced down his tanned skin and clung to his thoroughly-soaked hair and fur-covered arms. Snufkin stood up in the water, and Moomintroll had to duck back behind the rock, blushing furiously - Snufkin wasn't even wearing any sort of bathing suit, and Moomintroll had gotten a good glimpse at Snufkin's fur-covered thighs as well.

 

Snufkin began to hum again, and Moomintroll felt himself get lost in the formless melody. Slowly, Moomintroll raised himself up to peek out from behind the boulder again, cheeks burning heartily.

 

Snufkin stared right back at Moomintroll, hair clinging to his wet face.

 

"Sn-Snufkin!!" Moomintroll exclaimed, embarrassed both that he had been caught and at Snufkin's unusual state of undress.

 

"Hello, Moomintroll," Snufkin smiled, wringing his incredibly long hair out into the river. Snufkin's tail, free from the weight of his hair and the confines of his overcoat, swished hypnotically from side to side. "Are you enjoying the show?"

 

"O-oh, I- No, it's not what- I mean, yes, I-" Moomintroll stuttered and turned redder and redder still, before eventually settling on a meek, "I enjoyed hearing your song... Snufkin..."

 

"Moomintroll..." Snufkin whispered, and Moomintroll felt shivers shoot down his spine, "You don't need to be embarrassed... You can come join me for a bath, if you wish..."

 

Moomintroll's ears perked up at this, and he removed his hooves from his face, turning in shock to Snufkin's earnest expression.

 

"Come on, Moomintroll," Snufkin offered again, "The water feels great..."

 

Moomintroll, as if spellbound, slowly made his way into the river. Though the water felt cold, it was nothing to the incredible heat Moomintroll felt at that moment.

 

"Moomintroll..." Snufkin whispered again.

 

"Snufkin..." Moomintroll whispered back, placing a white hoof on Snufkin's chest.

 

The two leaned in, hoping to close the difference.

 

Snufkin's eyes jolted open as a bird landed on his face. Groaning roughly, he waved his claws at the bird until it flew away. Sitting up on the branch he was sleeping on, he gave a wide-mouthed yawn, exposing his sharp fangs.

 

Looking around the forest he was in, he had to remind himself that it was currently January, and Moomintroll was likely to be hibernating still. Still, Snufkin chuckled - perhaps he could make his midday dream a reality sometime soon.

 

"Though, I don't think I can grow my hair out that soon..." Snufkin chuckled, playing with the short hair that stuck out from under his hat. He gathered his belongings, picked up a white feather from the ground, threaded it into his hat, and Snufkin was on his way.

**Author's Note:**

> it's what Tove Jansson would have wanted


End file.
